Proposed Rule Sparks Controversy

When the 2008 Farm Bill was signed into law, it included language directing USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) to establish new criteria for the USDA Secretary Vilsack to consider in determining whether an undue or unreasonable preference had occurred in violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

Source: San Angelo Times; By Jerry Lackey | Nov 30, 2010

When the 2008 Farm Bill was signed into law, it included language directing USDA’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) to establish new criteria for the USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to consider in determining whether an undue or unreasonable preference had occurred in violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

In June, nearly a year after the congressionally mandated deadline for release, new regulation proposals were announced. Known as the GIPSA rule, the proposals have become very controversial throughout the livestock and poultry segments of the agriculture industry.

“Concerning to us is that many of the provisions in this rule are based on proposals and amendments that were defeated by Congress during debate on the 2008 Farm Bill,” says Colin Woodall, vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). “The components of this proposed rule hurt producers and could drastically change the way cattle are marketed in the U.S.”